Arlington, VA (January 11, 2017) – Since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the cost of prescription drugs have skyrocketed across the nation. Overregulation of the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry has left many Americans without access to the drugs they need, according to a new report, Price-Fixing Prescription Drugs Will Cost Us in Cures, released today by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Written by Mia Heck, the report discusses the detriments of big government influence in the medical field while offering two main free market solutions: increased drug development and a competitive marketplace. The report is accompanied by a guide on prescription drug policy that aids legislators in crafting policy that benefits their constituents.

“Public policies that include greater regulatory oversight and restrictive pricing on the biopharmaceutical industry will result in less competition for therapies in each medical class over time,” said Heck, Director of the Health and Human Services Task Force at ALEC. “Free-market incentives for the discovery of more life-saving prescription innovations are what the U.S. needs to bring down the cost of both prescription drugs and the cost of healthcare over the long term.”

Price-Fixing Prescription Drugs Will Cost Us in Cures exposes the harmful nature of the overregulated biopharmaceutical industry and how it is hurting everyday Americans, all the while offering practical solutions for elected officials to implement at the state level. Increased drug development and a competitive marketplace are necessary to ensure the needs of patients are met.

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The American Legislative Exchange Council is the largest nonprofit association of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism. Nearly one quarter of all state legislators are members of ALEC and represent more than 60 million Americans. ALEC member companies, which range from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, create roughly 30 million American jobs. To learn more, visit www.alec.org.